Tony Abbott told to ‘drop the race card’ on China free-trade agreement

PENNY Wong has told the prime minister to stop playing the race card when it comes to defending the free-trade agreement with China.

Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi and Labor Senator Penny Wong debate Same Sex Marriage at the Press Club in Canberra.

LABOR’S trade spokeswoman Penny Wong has told the prime minister to stop playing the race card when it comes to defending the free-trade agreement with China.

In a speech on Thursday, Tony Abbott attacked Labor for its opposition to the FTA, describing it as “xenophobic short-term politics”.

Mr Abbott believes the FTA with Australia’s number one trading partner is as vital to the country’s long-term prosperity as the floating of the Australian dollar and deregulation of the banking sector in 1980s.

He told the Boao Forum for Asia Financial Co-operation Conference in Sydney that the FTA would secure future employment for generations, provide massive new markets for entrepreneurs and provide investment opportunities for Australian and Chinese people. “This is too important to our economy, to our businesses and our children to be sacrificed at the altar of xenophobic short-term politics,” he said.

“The coalition won’t be part of that and I hope our opponents will end their flirtation with the ideas and fears of the past.” But Senator Wong said Labor just wants answers to genuine questions about the agreement because it is concerned about jobs and the inclusion of an investor-state dispute settlement mechanism.

“Labor won’t be lectured on race by a Liberal government that remains committed to protecting the rights of bigots and implementing a discriminatory foreign investment scheme that treats Chinese and American investors differently,” she said in a statement.

Tony Abbott has attacked Labor for its opposition to the FTA.

Mr Abbott said Australia has investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms in no less than 21 agreements and has had one with China since the Hawke government first signed a bilateral investment treaty with China back in 1988.

The government was locked in with the FTA after 10 years of talks with China and a “deal is a deal” and to amend one part of it would reopen it all, he said.

Former Labor foreign minister Bob Carr believes that while the unions have legitimate concerns over Australian jobs, he says there are lots of safeguards in the provisions of the FTA.

“The capacity to bring in foreign labour would not apply to normal projects — they’ve got to test local markets first to see whether they can find Australian workers and Australian conditions apply,” he told AAP on the fringes of the conference.

“I don’t think it will come to anything.”

ABBOTT POINTS TO BENEFITS OF CHINA FTA

• It removes barriers to Australian agricultural exports, including beef, dairy, lamb, wine, horticulture and seafood.

• Meat and Livestock Australia forecast their sector will benefit by $11 billion over the next decade.

• The FTA means duty-free entry for 99.9 per cent of our resources, energy and manufacturing exports within four years.

• The Minerals Council of Australia says this removes nearly $600 million in costs from the bilateral minerals and energy trade.

• Australian banks will be able to expand branch networks in China.

• Australian fund managers will be able to invest overseas on behalf of qualified Chinese institutions and Australian insurers will be able to provide third party motor vehicle insurance.

• The agreement secures the jobs of over 400,000 Australian workers that are employed in financial services, while opening new opportunities.

(Source: Tony Abbott speech to Boao Forum for Asia Financial Co-operation Conference)